Selma has been in the spotlight lately, and with the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery March getting closer, the city is on the minds of many.

Although many people will watch “Selma” the movie and read about Selma in history books, one principal from New Orleans was determined to let her kids visit Selma in person and experience the city that they have read so much about.

“We are taking our own voyage from New Orleans to Selma and giving our students an opportunity to get outside of the city of New Orleans and learn about very historical events for our country, [while getting[ the chance to actually engage and interact with folks who are very central to making that happen,” said Krystal Hardy, principal at Sylvanie Williams College Prep in New Orleans.

Hardy was not only bringing her students to Selma. She was bringing them to her hometown.

“I’m a product of Dallas County public schools, and being from Selma holds a lot of significance to understanding just how powerful our heritage is in terms of just knowing that — everyday folks and everyday families were part of changing not just Selma, but the world,” Hardy said.

While in Selma, the third, fourth and fifth grade students had the opportunity to tour the National Voting Rights Museum and even walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

“I think it’s so important that my kids see that there’s a world outside of New Orleans, there’s a world outside of Louisiana, and that they also see and understand that as a young person they can be agents of change,” Hardy said.

“It’s important for them to know that they don’t have to have a special title or come from a special pedigree in order for them to change the world around them.”

Selma Mayor George Evans even accompanied the students as they made their way across the bridge.

Sounds of excitement could be heard as they shuffled their way to the other side on the same bridge marchers did 50 years ago.

After finishing their march, the students were full of questions, and they were eager to tell their experiences.

“My experience walking over the bridge was good because it was about how Martin Luther King Jr. and protestors marched with they wanted freedom and the right to vote and how people died just so they could protect people from dying,” said Jermaine Brown, a fifth grader at Sylvanie. “My favorite part was marching on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and reliving the movement that happened years ago.”

Hardy had the children get in a circle after their march and take turns talking about the experience.

After they were finished sharing, Hardy had them to repeat after her as she tried to express to them how much each of them matter.

“I can be anything. I matter. I can make change happen in this world, at this time, with these people, at this moment,” Hardy said.

The children repeated.

As they loaded the buses, smiles could be seen on the children’s faces.

“I want them to know that their voice and there presence matters no matter how young they are,” Hardy said.

“No matter how old they become. No matter if they’re a college graduate or not. No matter if they’re from a poor family or a very affluent family. They matter and their voice needs to be heard.”